The critical importance of integration and management of information technology for healthcare providers, educators, research scientists, and administrators, has been recognized through the pioneering research efforts of the Integrated Academic Information Management System (IAIMS) program investigators. Using concepts based on IAIMS research and publication, the statewide LSU Medical Center system has progressed rapidly over the last decade to develop a group of state-of-the-art information systems and networks. This development of local and wide area networks, databases, and information systems, while state of the art, has been created in parallel by disparate groups and has not been optimally integrated from the perspectives of patient healthcare, basic and medical research, education, and administration. Also this information technology network rarely extends beyond the boundaries of our campuses and medical centers. The time has come to coordinate our satellite resources to develop an integrated, statewide medical information system that builds on the original IAIMS goal of timely, location independent access. Such a system is imperative if we are to control the cost while maintaining the quality of healthcare delivery education. This system will also (1) provide testbeds that will support competitive research opportunities for the study of high speed transmission of medical images, access to life science databases using intelligent gateways, sharing distributed high performance computers, and communicating through digital videoconferencing systems; and (2) provide greatly needed outreach to rural hospitals, physicians, and affiliated libraries. Our academic leaders and administrators are committed to planning this system and our deans, chancellors, and budgetary heads have given their support to establish strategic policy. With our current statewide information technology infrastructure and this important commitment from our leaders, we believe that we can advance the original IAIMS concepts to a new plateau, an Integrated Statewide Information Management System, and demonstrate important new benefits for education, research, and patient care.